Sir, – Patients at the excellent Upper Gastrointestinal (UGI) Cancer Unit at Frimley Park Hospital (FPH) have every reason to be grateful to The Farnham Herald for publicising information on the review of the decision to close the unit by October 2006. As a public governor, I joined with patients, staff, consultants, members and other governors to form "Friends of Cancer Services" in a bid to stop the closure. On January 19, I read a comment in The Independent by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, who wrote: "The NHS should be driven by patients' demands for better services. Local communities must have a strong say over local priorities and strategy. Patients should be in the driving seat. By unleashing patients' demands, we will go all the way to a self- improving health service with no waiting lists and services which are fair to all and personal to each." I was very impressed with this statement, which reinforced my faith in the NHS. I therefore e-mailed Ms Hewitt that I had found that this principle – the NHS being driven by patients' demands – had not been applied in the decision to close the UGI Cancer Unit. I explained that Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire Cancer Network Policy Board (SWSH CNPB) had made the decision without any consultation – despite the fact that peer review had rated FPH's UGI Cancer Unit a "centre of excellence". There is strong opposition to the closure and opening a new facility at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, which will cost the Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority (SHA) a great deal of money with no guarantee of matching FPH's "centre of excellence" in performance, when the Surrey and Sussex SHA is already heading for a large financial deficit this financial year. I therefore pleaded with Ms Hewitt to ask her Department of Health officials to review the SWSH CNPB's decision (January 27), I had not had a reply from Ms Hewitt. I therefore sent her a copy of the front-page news item so that she could see that it is a very important issue for patients and the public in FPH's catchment area. I believe that it was this news item landing on her desk that prompted her to e-mail me directly on the evening of January 30, the same day that she launched her White Paper, Our Health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services. She wrote: "Many thanks indeed for your e- mail of the 19th. My apologies for the delay in replying – I'm sure you'll understand that with the White Paper it has been even more hectic than usual. I was interested to read the points you raised about Frimley Park Hospital. I'll come back to you with a more detailed response as soon as I can. "Best wishes, and thank you for all you're doing in the NHS. Patricia." Since then, the SWSH CNPB has decided that it would be timely to seek expert advice! It has called on the National Cancer Director, Professor Mike Richards, to review the decision. At the council of governors' meeting at Farnham Maltings on February 2, I welcomed the news of the review by Professor Richards. However, I also said that it would be important for us to be satisfied with its detailed terms of reference and to ensure that the outcome of the review is subject to proper consultation with the public, the patients and the staff affected at FPH. But it's thanks to you, Farnham Herald, that our "Friends of Cancer Services" and, most importantly, UGI cancer patients locally, have new hope of retaining the "centre of excellence" at FPH. Alex Crawford JP, Cargate Avenue, Aldershot